Is time up for China’s non-interference take on overseas coups?
- For decades, Beijing has hewed to the rhetoric of not meddling in the affairs of other countries
- But calls for the release of Guinea’s former president appeared to turn that approach on its head
In a brief and direct statement, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said “China opposes coup attempts to seize power and calls for the immediate release of president Alpha Condé”.
But analysts say security and geopolitical challenges to China’s investments in Africa and parts of Asia are putting the policy to the test.
The policy goes back to the 1950s and has been used to present China as an alternative to other powers, according to Lukas Fiala, project coordinator of China Foresight at the LSE IDEAS think tank and a doctoral candidate at the London School of Economics.
It was part of a broader push to promote cooperation between developing countries in Asia and Africa.
“In China’s diplomatic rhetoric, non-interference has featured repeatedly to frame China as a different external actor in comparison to European powers and the US,” Fiala said.
